LaVarenne Cooking School- Learn the art of fine cooking with Anne Willan: WINEMAKER’S ROULADEN WITH CELERY

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January 2003

WINEMAKER’S ROULADEN WITH CELERY

During two quiet years of living in Luxembourg, I have to say that the gastronomic pleasures were few. The butcher did, however, have a splendid array of sausages and rouladen of beef or veal stuffed with many different fillings. I would cook them in the soft local Moselle wine, and later learned they are a specialty of the region. In this recipe, use mild or spicy sausage meat, as you prefer, and serve the rouladen with mashed potatoes.

INGREDIENTS: Makes about 4 to 6 servings
	8 very thin slices of flank steak (about 1 _ lb/750 g)
	3/4 lb/375 g sausage meat
	16 thin slices bacon (about 1/2 lb/250 g)
	1 tablespoon vegetable oil
	1 onion, chopped
	1 large carrot, chopped
	salt and pepper
	4-5 stalks celery, sliced
	1/2 bottle (375 ml) medium-dry white wine
	2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1. Lay the slices of steak on a chopping board and gently flatten them with the side of a large knife. Divide the sausage meat into 8 portions and spread it onto the steak slices, leaving a narrow border so the stuffing does not leak out when you roll up the slices. Roll the slices into bundles, and then roll each bundle in bacon, angling so the bacon holds the bundle together and does not overlap.

2. Heat the oil in a sauté pan or deep frying pan and brown the rouladen thoroughly on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes. Take them out, add the onion and carrot with some pepper (the bacon will add salt) and sauté until soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the celery and cook over high heat, stirring, until the vegetables start to brown, 3 to 5 minutes.

3. Replace the rouladen on the vegetables and pour over the wine. Add enough water to half cover the rolls. Cover the pan and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the rouladen are very tender when pierced with a two-pronged fork, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours. Stir and turn them from time to time during cooking and add a little more water if the pan gets dry.

4. When done, take off the lid and boil down the sauce until concentrated. Taste and adjust the seasoning. The rouladen can be stored up to 3 days in the refrigerator, or frozen, and their flavor will mellow. Serve them very hot, sprinkled with parsley.

What Wine:
To Cook: The Moselle area produces light, food-friendly white in quantity. I’d recommend a sylvaner or an inexpensive riesling for the braising process or, if you've chosen a spicy sausage for the filling, a gewürztraminer.

To Drink: Surprisingly, the same white wine may do nicely on the table. If you would prefer a red, try to find an Alsatian pinot noir or one of the lighter Burgundies such as Santenay, St. Aubin or Fixin.

This Recipe of the Month selection comes from Anne Willan's newest release: Anne Willan Cooking With Wine (2001) published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in association with COPIA: American Center for Wine, Food, and the Arts.

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